The Comparing Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Externalized and Internalized Shame in People with Social Anxiety Disorder

The purpose of this study was to comparing effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on externalized and internalized shame in people with social anxiety disorder. This semi-experimental study was conducted with a pretest-posttest design with control group and follow-up 2 month. The statistical population of the present study was all patients with social anxiety disorder in Tehran city in winter year 2024. In the first stage, the number of 45 patients with a score of 19 and above on the social anxiety disorder scale was selected and then randomly divided into 2 experimental groups (each group 15 people) and one control group (15 people) were replaced and experimental groups underwent emotion-focused therapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, but the control group received no training and remained in the waiting list. To collect data social anxiety inventory (SPIN) of Connor and et al (2000), the other as shamer scale (AOS) of Goss and et al (1994) and internalized shame scale (ISS) of Cook and et al (1988).  Data analysis was performed using SPSS-28 software with analysis of variance with repeated measures and Bonferroni. The results of the study showed that of both interventions had a significant effect on externalized and internalized shame in people with social anxiety disorder (P<0.05). In addition, the results of Bonferroni post hoc test showed that emotion-focused therapy is more effective (P<0.05). It can be concluded that that, in addition effectiveness of both treatments, the priority of use in the treatment of problems patients with social anxiety disorder is with emotion-focused therapy.